“Patience, Knowledge, and Empathy – The Three Pillars On Which A Leader Rests” As defined by Mr. Suhas C. Mekhe, in his interaction on ‘Being a Leader’ with students of KIAMS

Posted on: September 10, 2012

As a part of its overall process of grooming industry relevant managers, Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management Studies – better known as KIAMS often hosts Guest lectures by stalwarts from the Industry. On the 19th of August 2012, Mr. Suhas C. Mekhe, Senior Manager, Marketing and Sales, at Forbes Marshall was invited to talk to the students of KIAMS on ‘Being a Leader’. Mr. Mekhe, a BE in Electronics and Telecom from MIT, Pune, and an MBA in Marketing, has 16 years of extensive experience. He has been with Forbes Marshall for the last 7 years – an organisation regarded as industry standard in customized Heat Recovery Packages, Boiler House Systems and Monitoring and Control Solutions. Forbes Marshall products are conscientiously built with the ultimate objective of energy conservation.

Despite, a heavy downpour, Mr. Mekhe arrived sharp at 10.30 AM for the interaction. Comfortably dressed in a formal T-shirt and Jeans, Mr. Mekhe, did not lecture the students of KIAMS. He simply asked questions; a lot of questions pertaining to leadership traits and behaviour. As soon as he had the 15-20 points that he was looking for, from the future managers from KIAMS, Mr. Mekhe, split up both the batches (B-14 and B-15) into 3 parts. He gave the three groups a topic to discuss. The twist was that only Group 1 was asked to discuss the topic, while Group 2 was asked to carry out a one-on-one observation of every member of Group 1. Group 3 was asked to analyse the content of the GD. The three groups exchanged roles in due course of time. What spooked out the youngsters from KIAMS was the keen observation by Mr. Mekhe on each individual who was a part of the process.

Through this process, Mr. Mekhe helped the students of KIAMS realise that deep down inside, a leader has a cultivated characteristics of Patience, Knowledge, and Empathy.

“Being leader is not to be confused with being a manager. Leadership is not just about management education – cramming and mugging up all the B-books. It is what you make of it all, and how you apply it in practice.”

Mr. Mekhe went on to describe how each point was important for being a leader and how he or she carries applies these characteristics to lead a team successfully. Interestingly, he provided various cases and situation from the industry, to put these three factors into perspective.

An avid trekker, it was clear that Mr. Mekhe had deeply explored the subject of leadership while traversing the mountains of Sikkim, and Lahaul-Spiti valley in Himachal Pradesh.

Mr. Mekhe was given the customary ‘Vote of Thanks’ and a memento as a token of remembrance of his visit to KIAMS. The thundering standing ovation that accompanied this gesture bore testimony to the fact that his inspiring words had been etched into the hearts of his young audience from KIAMS.